Agyness Deyn: 'Who am I?' | Fashion | The Guardian The Guardian The G2 interview Agyness Deyn: 'Who am I?' At the age of 29, the supermodel formerly known as Laura Hollins is starting a stage career and pondering some philosophical questions. And yes, she is 29 – she doesn't fib about her age any more either Portrait of Agyness Deyn by David Levene. Makeup by Celia Burton at Mandy Coakley using all makeup by Chanel S 2012 and Hydra Beauty Serum and hair by Neil Woolley at Percy and Reed Salon. Shot at the Corinthia Hotel, London. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian The G2 interview Agyness Deyn: 'Who am I?' At the age of 29, the supermodel formerly known as Laura Hollins is starting a stage career and pondering some philosophical questions.

And yes, she is 29 – she doesn't fib about her age any more either Share on Messenger Close I don't know if this is a testament to the alchemy of fashion photography, or to the visual versatility of this particular supermodel, but my first thought when she walks in is, oh, here's the makeup artist. Or the personal assistant, perhaps. Whoever she is, she's bang on time – so in the tradition of supermodel folklore, maybe she's come to announce that her boss will be a gazillion hours late? Then the woman offers a smiley greeting in a soft Lancashire accent, and I realise she must be Agyness Deyn . She doesn't look anything like Deyn. She doesn't even really look like a model. Which is weird, because Deyn was the first British model since Kate Moss to break through from the catwalk into national consciousness, her trademark tousled blonde crop so recognisable that for a while young women in salons across the country were demanding an "Agy" .

Named model of the year at the British fashion awards in 2007, and honoured by an entire issue of i-D devoted to herself, she has been the flagship face of Burberry, Vivienne Westwood and Giorgio Armani among many others, while subverting the luxury brand aesthetic with a look best described as army surplus meets jumble sale chic. Deyn has dated rock stars, sung on a Rihanna music video, and defined a version of cool that style magazines invariably like to describe as edgy and fierce. The woman I meet isn't fierce at all. But then, she's no longer a model either. She is incredibly polite and attentive, to the point where she can come across as almost meek, and talks slowly and carefully, the words punctuated by long pauses while she considers her thoughts. After modelling for 11 years, Deyn has decided to swap the catwalk for the stage , and this week will appear in her first play, a four-handed comedy called The Leisure Society. It is, she readily admits, quite a change. "For modelling, you have to be such a strong person in a way – or seen to be a strong person, do you know what I mean?

But in acting you have to get in touch with all the vulnerability that you carry." She's been rehearsing for eight hours every day, and talks about it with a sort of awestruck reverence. "When I started doing little bits of acting I was like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing, you know? Going to this place where there's this fulfilment in kind of like letting go, and also that part of really getting in touch with yourself, to be able to understand a different character, and then portray that to whoever's watching it, and to be able to penetrate them in a way that touches them. And there's this unsaid kind of bond with us all [in the cast] which is so powerful, you know? It's like this family, there for each other; I feel held by the other people who are doing it, which is so great, cos like with modelling for so long it's a very solo project, and quite lonely.

Being part of – well, it makes me feel emotional just talking about it – being part of this with these great people – it's just like so cool." Deyn plays Paula, the 21-year-old date of a thirtysomething divorcee who takes her to dinner to meet a well-heeled couple he has been friends with for years. The couple had planned on ending their friendship with him that night, but Paula's presence proves to be sexually explosive; she and her date describe themselves as "special" friends, an arrangement known to fans of Sex and the City as "fuck buddies", and the evening takes an increasingly bizarre series of turns as the older couple's attempts at worldly sophistication unravel into erotic confusion. I've read the script, and it's extremely funny. "The writing is genius," agrees Deyn. "It's a back-and-forth of absurdity. Paula's 21, and I suppose when you're 21 you have no filter, you have no concept of, like, consequences, but it's not like a conscious thought – everything is a bit black and white, cos you've just not had enough experience.

When you're young you say it how it is, and even your views are, like, 'This is totally the truth', cos you don't know any difference, so there's a real confidence in your way of thinking." Was she like that at 21? "Yeah! And I kind of feel like I have to put me as I am now to one side, cos you know, I'm 29, I feel like that's the age when you start to think about life. What is this all about? Who am I?" Even simply being photographed as herself, no longer as a model being paid to sell something, can be confronting. "When you're doing it as yourself it's a bit different. When you're doing it yourself, it's, OK, this is me. And I suppose it does make you explore it; am I OK being who I am?" Does it pose the question, who am I? "Yeah, definitely," she agrees, her eyes widening. "So it's really different. But really nice too. I suppose it's a challenge, but also a relief." Deyn seems to become less comfortable when she talks about her old career as a model.

She's the first professional beauty I've met who doesn't pretend to have been an ugly duckling – "No, I suppose as a little girl I was really pretty. I was cute" – which makes a lovely change. But apart from that, she appears to be bound by the fashion world's omertà, which prohibits any acknowledgement of the industry's notorious darker sides – bitchiness, eating disorders, insecurity – or of any ambition to be a model at all, a career that convention dictates must arrive by surprise, like a baby delivered by a stork. Childhood friends Henry Holland and Agyness Deyn in New York in 2008. Photograph: Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic Deyn was born near Rochdale in Greater Manchester, to a postal worker and a nurse, and though they divorced when she was 12 her childhood sounds happy; a normal provincial upbringing, with a part-time job in the local fish and chip shop.

Her great childhood friend remains her best friend today – Henry Holland, now a successful fashion designer – and in the past she's said that as dreamy teenagers, "Henry would say: 'When you're a famous model', and I'd say: 'When you're a famous fashion editor.'" But when I ask her now why she'd wanted to be a model, she says: "I'd never really thought about it until I got spotted." Hadn't she won a local modelling contest at 16? "Yeah but it never crossed my mind that it could actually be a career." What else had she been considering? "Who knows, who knows," she offers vaguely. "Don't know." At 18 she was spotted by a scout in London, while visiting Holland at university. For the next five years she worked as a jobbing model, not making much of a name for herself but having a ball; another childhood friend joined the pair in London, and they were like, she grins, "the three musketeers". It wasn't until a New York agent signed her in 2006 that she suddenly became an overnight star, filling the vacancy of Britain's new supermodel , previously occupied by Kate Moss.

"That still like blags my head when people say that. Even now I'm only just thinking like that. It was really mental." There must have been a moment when she knew she'd joined the ranks of supermodels? "No, I never really clocked on to that." Even when her hairstyle had its own name? She looks fleetingly embarrassed. "I suppose, yeah, there was a bit of that. I think in the moment I had realised," she reluctantly concedes, "but I don't know whether not really accepting it was a way of actually not getting caught up in it. Maybe." When I ask how much truth there is in the bitchy reputation of modelling, she replies cautiously: "Um, my experience is that I just went to work and I had fun." A long pause. "And then I went home, and then I wasn't at work any more." But there was quite a bit of bitching about Deyn, because gossips claimed that when she became fashion's sensational new star, she knocked several years off her age to disguise the fact that she had already been around for ages.

When I bring this up she freezes, her face a blank guard, so I ask if it's true, as I'd read, that she resorted to bringing her passport to interviews to prove her age. She relaxes and laughs. "Really? That would have been clever. No, when I decided I would really do modelling I was like 18, and I think at the time that was quite old for a new face, so we knocked off a few years." The deception has long since been corrected. "But it was my birthday last week, and Henry was saying how old would you have been? Cos it got really complicated – when personal and work collide – and Henry was like: 'But it looks like I started being friends with you when you were four or something!'" She seems to tense again when I ask about the other curiosity in her biography.

Deyn was born Laura Hollins, and according to which account you read, she changed it a) because her agency told her too many models were already called Laura, or b) she and her mother saw a magazine cover that said "Change your name, change your life!", so they both did, or c) she consulted a man who claims to be Britain's only "name analyst", Laurence Y Payg, and uses a 3,000-year-old Chinese technique to create a more "positive" name. His technique sounds a lot like numerology – spelt with its superfluous Ys, her new name apparently equates to the number 21 – and Payg has publicly credited it with all Deyn's subsequent success. As I run through these explanations, she gazes back with an unreadable expression that could be hiding annoyance, confusion, amusement, or almost anything. Can she explain what happened? "Yeah, in two seconds. Yeah, I started modelling, and they said there are loads of Lauras – you can change your name.

I was like, OK, and then I thought about it and said OK, I'll be called Agnes; my grandmother was called Agnes." It was as simple as that? "Yeah." But didn't her mother, a Reiki master, also change her name – and Deyn's sister too? Yes, she acknowledges warily. And she changed the spelling because of numerology? "Laurence helped me change my name," she says matter of factly. "Erm ... yeah, that's it." I think she means that a), b) and c) all happened, in that order, but when I point out that numerology is quite an esoteric notion, she looks blank again. "I suppose I'm open to trying new things, do you know what I mean?" I quote Payg to her – "Soon after her name change, Agyness's career sky-rocketed. Absolutely nothing else about her circumstances changed ... and yet everything suddenly changed." Does she really believe that's why it happened? "I don't know," she murmurs, looking uncomfortable.

"Who knows?" I get the impression that Deyn finds interest in her private life quite difficult to deal with, and would rather come across as vacant than revisit subjects which have left her feeling bruised by the media. She put her $2.5m New York apartment on the market recently, and photos of its wildly baroque, lavishly idiosyncratic interior (conch-shell chairs, a coral and seaweed mural, leopard skin carpets, lion's head taps) caused quite a sensation in the press. When I ask how that felt, though, she claims to be unaware of any coverage. "I did the decor with a friend of mine, and had a lot of fun doing it. But it's for sale now, and that's it really." I assume she must be fabulously rich, but when I say so she looks astonished – which I think is another way of seeing off unwelcome intrusion. "Well, I suppose I've never really had a lifestyle that needs upkeep. I don't get cabs; I'm on the tube with my Oyster card. I've never really changed my lifestyle." But at moments she can also be disarmingly vulnerable.

Having dated Josh Hubbard, guitarist with the British band the Paddingtons, and then Albert Hammond Junior of the Strokes, she is currently single, and volunteers: "Yeah, single for three years now. I think I've forgotten how to function in a relationship. I hope I meet someone, cos it would be nice to have someone to share your joys and accomplishments and hard times with. To have a comrade in life. I'd like a relationship that was like two tree trunks side by side, strong but independent." It's quite hard to reconcile her fiercely edgy supermodel image with this sweetly shy, almost earnest ingenue, and she agrees: "I think I was able to put on more of a brash front a lot more when I was younger. Now it's a bit harder, so now I kind of embrace the feeling awkward, maybe a little bit socially inept. But in a good way." But just as I'm leaving, I get a glimpse of the person I would guess her close friends know. She explains that she is currently living here in the five-star Corinthia hotel where we're meeting – and meets my look of surprise with a playful grin. "Yeah, I love this place.

I was sat outside chilling out yesterday – I feel so chilled here, I actually feel like it's my house – like, what are all these people doing in my house?" she jokes. "And I was talking to this chap, chilling out after rehearsing all day, and we were just chatting and stuff and I didn't know he's the owner, the guy that built it – and he lives here – and I'm like going," and she starts to laugh, "S'all right this hotel, isn't it?" The Leisure Society is at Trafalagar Studios 2 from 28 February to 31 March.

Tickets are available from atgtickets.com/trafalgarstudios Agyness Deyn - Biography - IMDb Agyness Deyn Biography Showing all 50 items Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (1) | Trivia (13) | Personal Quotes (30) Overview (3) 5' 9" (1.75 m) Mini Bio (1) Agyness Deyn was born on February 16, 1983 in Littleborough, Manchester, UK as Laura Hollins. She is an actress, known for Clash of the Titans (2010), Hail, Caesar! (2016) and Pusher (2012). She has been married to Joel McAndrew since August 28, 2016. She was previously married to Giovanni Ribisi . Spouse (2) Androgynous crop of blond hair Trivia (13) Is a member of a band named "Lucky Knitwear".

The Face & Figure of fashion giants Burberry, Giorgio Armani and Galliano, she even has a handbag/purse named after her - Mulberry's Putty-colored Agyness bag. [2008] Voted British Fashion Council Model of the Year. [2007] Became an overnight supermodel when she landed on the November 2006 cover of Italian "Vogue" magazine, a striking portrait photographed by Steven Meisel . Discovered browsing in London's Kentish Town district. On 19th February 2008 appeared on the cover of the TIME magazine Style & Design issue. Is the professional muse of designer Christopher Bailey of Burberry Prorsum label. Is employed by the agencies DNA, Viva and Why Not. Has over taken Kate Moss as the most glamorous face of fashion since 2007. Counts British fashion designer Henry Holland (of "Holland House") as one of her best lifelong friends. [2010] Was in a relationship with Albert Hammond Jr. (2008-2009).

Currently resides in New York City [2008] Her husband of 2 years Giovanni Ribisi filed for divorce from her after they were separated since December 28, 2014. [January 2015] Personal Quotes (30) The fact is I'm choosy, but mainly about a man's character. He has to be interesting, funny and clever. I don't even mind if he's not very good-looking. I think modelling was like the university of life, really. You get to travel but you get thrown into this adult world, which is kind of quite scary. Fashion isn't me, even though I work in it. It's just materialistic stuff. I'd love to have tea and scones with the Queen; she's my idol. I don't think a name defines the core of who you are. I'm not the new anything; I'm just Agyness. I want to play positive role models - women who mean something to other women. I've always been really private about my personal life. I don't talk about it. I've never had formal drama-school training; I've just picked things up as I've gone along.

I've always got on with lads, more than I have with girls. I love 'Breathless,' and 'Paris, Texas,' and 'Badlands.' I was obsessed with those films in my teens. I remember watching 'Badlands' and being amazed that there were these scenes in which nobody said anything and the silence told the whole story. Well, I suppose I've never really had a lifestyle that needs upkeep. I don't get cabs; I'm on the Tube with my Oyster card. A lot of stuff written about me is rubbish. I don't know where they get it from, sometimes. When you're young, you say it how it is, and even your views are, like, 'This is totally the truth', 'cos you don't know any difference, so there's a real confidence in your way of thinking. Not just in modeling, but in society, there's so much pressure about what a woman should be, and, of course, it's just so unobtainable. You can never become that thing, because it's such a projection. Modelling is only about the look. In acting, it's the feel that matters.

I don't expect that because I was successful in one field that I will then get a ride of passage into another. I never knew modelling was what I wanted to do. I was just meandering through life having fun, having a laugh with my friends. I'd like a relationship that was like two tree trunks side by side, strong but independent. If you have a connection to someone, it doesn't matter what their exterior is. I don't really see myself as a big supermodel. I dress like a tomboy. I don't have that many friends. I don't really go to fashion parties; they're not my scene. I know I'm no Whitney Houston. My mum used to always dress me and my sister in matching Laura Ashley dresses. And I'd be like, 'Mum, I just wanna wear my Doc Martens!' It is so inspiring when you come across a woman who is very strong and dedicated and is amazing at what they do. That's how I feel about Meryl Streep. You watch her, and you can't help but notice all of that about her. She's so influential. Laughing is, like, my favorite thing to do.

When I first started modelling, as I was walking down the catwalk I just thought, 'Please don't fall over, please don't fall over, please don't fall over!' For modelling, you have to be such a strong person in a way - or seen to be a strong person, do you know what I mean? But in acting you have to get in touch with all the vulnerability that you carry. See also Agyness Deyn. Biography, news, photos and videos Horoscope : Aquarius Before she blazed a trail across the catwalks and countless magazine covers, Agyness was known by her real name of Laura Hollins. Born in 1986 in Littleborough, near Rochdale, she was the middle of three children, a tomboy who took karate lessons and cut her hair boyishly short. It was her grandmother who first realised the blooming youngster\'s covergirl potential and sent her photo to a teen magazine modelling competition. Although 13-year-old Agyness won, she could have had no idea of the glamorous future that awaited. Instead, the nurse\'s daughter worked part-time for two years in her local fish and chip shop.

"I used to buy my chips from her every Friday," says best friend and House of Holland designer Henry Holland. After finishing school - where she took A-Levels in music and drama - she headed for London, where she worked in a burger joint during the day and a bar at night. It wasn\'t just her career but her name which changed in 2004, when she was talent-spotted by a photographer and signed up to a model agency. The agency suggested she change her name, and Laura came up with Agnes, after her grandmother, and Dean an old family surname. It was then adapted by her mum Lorraine, a Reiki healer, to Agyness Deyn. The following year she was picked for the Mario Testino Vogue shoot, and has never looked back. "I never knew modelling was what I wanted to do," admits the down-to-earth covergirl. "I was just meandering through life having fun, having a laugh with my friends." Her punky platinum crop and much-copied, instantly recognisable street style mark Agyness out from the crowd.

Mixing designer clothes with vintage finds, she describes her look as "Jackie O crossed with Debbie Harry meets Stevie Nicks and 1920s punk". She prefers to get her inspiration from men\'s fashion and, like Kate Moss , is looked to as a guide for the latest must-wear trends. Aggy, as she is known to family and friends, starred in her first Giorgio Armani campaign and first Mulberry ad in 2006, following those key contracts with a high-profile campaign for British brand Burberry a year later. Along with Doutzen Kroes, Jessica Stam , Hilary Rhoda and the equally quirky Coco Rocha she has been hailed as a member of the new generation of supermodels. As for her ambitions outside the fashion world? "I\'d love to have tea and scones with the Queen, she\'s my idol," she says. © 2000-2017, HELLO! Laura Hollins Facebook, Twitter & MySpace on PeekYou 1) Laura Hollins's Phone & Current Address View All Details 2) Social Media Profiles & More - Search Free!

View All Details Laura Hollins's Phone #, Address & More View All Details Laura Hollins's Contact Info, Social Profiles & More View All Details Laura Hollins - Get Contact Information Phone Number Laura Hollins - Reverse Phone Search - Get Photos & Online Profiles Instantly! Phone Number View Laura's Hidden Profiles on Facebook and 60+ Networks, laura****@gmail View Laura's Hidden Profiles on Facebook and 60+ Networks, laura****@yahoo View Laura's Hidden Profiles on Facebook and 60+ Networks, laura****@hotmail View Laura's Hidden Profiles on Facebook and 60+ Networks, laura****@aol View Laura's Hidden Profiles on Facebook and 60+ Networks, laura****@outlook How Laura from the Village Chippy became Agy the Vogue cover girl | Daily Mail Online How Laura from the Village Chippy became Agy the Vogue cover girl By ELIZABETH DAY and CHRISTINE CHALLAND Last updated at 09:53 03 June 2007 When she was 14, Laura Hollins was just an average teenage girl with a part-time job in a chip shop.

Regular customers at The Village Chippy in Stubbins, Lancashire, were accustomed to seeing her standing behind the deep-fat fryer in a sleeveless tabard and regulation hairnet, serving portions of chips and saveloys during the weekend rush. "She was a normal, lovely girl who would serve the chips, wash up or do anything you asked," says Irene Kershaw, the chip shop’s owner. "But she had charisma and I knew she would do well. She always got a great reception from the customers." Yet it would have taken a giant leap of imagination to envisage this cheery girl with mousey-blonde hair blossoming into one of the most exciting models of her generation – a woman photographed by Mario Testino and featured in campaigns for some of the world’s leading designers including Mulberry, Armani and Burberry. In fact, her ubiquity is such that the fashionistas are already hotly tipping the chip-shop girl as the new Kate Moss. Seven years on from The Village Chippy, she is featured on the cover of this month’s British Vogue – hair cropped and peroxide, eyes almost supernaturally blue and glossed mouth set in the requisite supermodel pout.

She has even changed her name to fit in with her new It Girl status: now she is known as Agyness Deyn, Britain’s brightest fashion hope. "Every decade, there is a girl of the moment," says London-based fashion designer Christopher Kane, "and, right now, that moment belongs to Agyness." These days, 21-year-old Agyness lives in New York and frequents the trendiest nightspots – a world away from her grounded Northern roots. Scroll down for more She was born in Littleborough, near Rochdale, in 1986, the middle of three children. Her mother, Lorraine, 54, a specialist hospital nurse, recalls that her daughter had "something special about her" from an early age. "The way Agy looks is an extension of her personality," Lorraine says. "There are no pretensions. What you see is what you get. She has an inner beauty, more of a sensuality than sexuality, and has never done anything unnatural to herself for the sake of her appearance. She is the epitome of clean-living.

"People have said she’s the new Kate Moss, but Agy has never compared herself to anyone and I think she can be just as successful in her own right." However, it seems unlikely that Agyness will be attracting the same kind of unfavourable headlines as Miss Moss. Though her mother is divorced, her childhood was a happy and stable one, and she is very close to her two siblings – her younger sister, Emily, 20, and her older brother, Greg, 28. Agyness attended All Saints Catholic Language College before going on to take A-levels in music and drama at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. She was a tomboy who went to karate lessons and, aged 11, cut her hair so short that strangers would mistake her for a boy. Scroll down for more Displaying an early fashion sense, she dyed and cropped her hair in a variety of colours and styles, including black, red, blonde, pink, shaved and chequerboard. She met her best friend – trendy T-shirt designer Henry Holland – when they were both youngsters trying cigarettes and hanging around the local petrol station. He says: "I used to buy my chips from her every Friday.

When we were about 14, she was a bit of a scally, but she always got loads of attention." Her first step into modelling came when her grandmother spotted a competition in a teen magazine and sent off a photo of her granddaughter. She won the competition aged 13, then went on to win a contest to discover the Face of Rossendale in 1999. She turned down offers from a number of modelling agencies to finish her exams. Then, three years ago, she moved to London with Holland, living on a shoestring, eating beans on toast and spending any spare money on fashion magazines. After an approach by a photographer – who spotted her walking along Kentish Town Road in North London – she signed with an agency and was soon modelling full-time. When her agency advised her to change her name, she came up with the combination Agnes – after her grandmother – and Dean, an old family surname. It was then adapted by Lorraine, who is a master in Reiki, a Japanese form of faith healing. She had read a magazine article about numerology which suggested that ‘Agyness Deyn’ would give her daughter the most positive spiritual combination – and success came rapidly.

In 2006 she was photographed by Steven Meisel for the cover of Italian Vogue and then came her first Giorgio Armani campaign. Lorraine says: "In January, a parcel arrived at the house and when I opened it, it was a poster of her first Armani campaigns. "I sat in front of it and just felt so overwhelmed with pride and emotion because she looked so beautiful." Agyness regularly flies back from New York to the North of England to catch up with her family and her boyfriend, Josh Hubbard, the lead singer in upcoming rock band The Paddingtons, who lives in Hull. The couple have been dating for two years and met at a Paris fashion party. Josh had assumed Agyness was French until he started talking to her and realised that they shared Northern accents. Agy’s supportive family background means there is no pressure to conform to the size-zero culture. "When she first went to Milan for a casting, she was told she wasn’t thin enough," says Lorraine. "I said 'If they’re not happy with you the way you are, just come home.' And she did. "A year later, she was in big demand. Agy won’t cave in to opinion.

She’s true to herself and she’ll only do things that are right for her. "She has never starved herself and doesn’t go on fad diets. She’s got wonderful curves and a bit of meat on her. When she’s home, she eats everything, but always with fresh fruit and veg. "She loves home cooking, the odd burger and chips, a few glasses of wine – and the odd cigarette." Agyness Deyn may be Britain’s newest supermodel, but her mother knows that underneath all the high-fashion gloss, her daughter is not much different from the tomboyish Lancashire lass who served customers at the village chip shop. Agyness Deyn Pictures, Photo Galleries, Bio & Rating - AskMen AskMen Messages You have no messages Notifications You have no notifications Agyness Deyn Agyness Deyn Supermodel Agyness Deyn (aka Laura Hollins) is the face of Burberry, Mulberry, Giorgio Armani , and Dolce & Gabbana, and has also been featured in ads for Blugirl by Blumarine, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.

In 2007, Agyness Deyn was named Model of the Year at the BFAs and in 2008, she topped Kate Moss at Best Dressed by Tatler magazine. Appeal With her peroxide-crop haircut, sparkling blue eyes and cute, delicate features, Agyness Deyn's pixieish beauty would definitely brighten up any venue. While many of the ads she appears in tend to underplay her sexuality, and her thin frame may be lacking the curves most men dream about, Agyness Deyn's stunningly gorgeous face and long slender legs make her extremely desirable. She also comes across as someone who's naturally charming, unpretentious and fun to be with, which might be due to her North England origins and tomboy past. With all of these attributes coming into play, it's no wonder she beat out dozens of other beauties to be crowned Model of the Year.

Success Agyness Deyn had been modeling in London for at least half a decade before landing a cover assignment for what's considered the most coveted fashion magazine cover in the business: Vogue Italia selected her to grace the front pages in 2006, according her instant “it girl” status and making her one of the most talked-about models in the industry. More high profile covers, as well as affiliations with names such as John Galliano, Gianfranco Ferrè and Giorgio Armani, have contributed to her supermodel stature, while being named the British fashion industry's Model of the Year ultimately sealed her model-of-the-moment standing. Although Agyness Deyn has often been touted as the “new Kate Moss,” her own charismatic personality has managed to shine through all the image-making media hype to prove that she's also the current Agyness Deyn. Agyness Deyn Biography Agyness Deyn was born Laura Hollins in Littleborough, Greater Manchester, England on February 16, 1983, although there has been some controversy over her actual year of birth. The future supermodel went through a tomboy phase as a youngster.

She learned karate and, at the age of 11, she cut her hair short to make strangers think she was a boy. After focusing on drama and music at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, she went on to study math, business and theater at All-Saints Catholic Language College. agyness deyn wins face of ’99 competition Agyness Deyn began working part-time at The Village Chippy, a fish 'n' chips restaurant in Stubbins, Lancashire, when she was 14. It was there that she was discovered by designer Henry Holland, who was known for his rhyming slogan T-shirts. Agyness Deyn soon became the face of the House of Holland label, and eventually started thinking about making a career out of modeling. In 1999, while attending All-Saints, the 16-year-old entered and won the Rossendale Free Press Face of '99 modeling competition. Not long after that, Agyness Deyn moved down to London to pursue her dreams. She initially supported herself by working two jobs, serving hamburgers during the day and drinks at a cocktail bar by night.

Within a few months, her waitressing days were a thing of the past as, at the age of 18, she was signed by the Models 1 agency after catching the eye of a local photographer. agyness deyn on the cover of vogue italia Agyness Deyn's career as a model did not take off immediately, but by the time she made her debut as a magazine cover girl on Vogue Italia's November 2006 edition, she had truly arrived. She once again graced the publication's cover for their September 2007 issue, and both times, the sessions were shot by famed fashion photographer Steven Meisel. American Vogue selected Agyness Deyn, along with other rising models such as Jessica Stam , Coco Rocha and Chanel Iman, as The World's Next Top Models for their May 2007 edition. The following month, she appeared on the cover of UK Vogue, while an Observer Woman supplement featured her on one their covers that September.

agyness deyn wins model of the year Throughout 2007, Agyness Deyn was dogged by claims that she and her associates had falsely claimed her year of birth to be 1986, and not 1983, as some internet databases had cited. Some of her former schoolmates created a Facebook page whose purpose was to reveal her actual age, while a number of publications pressed Agyness Deyn's mother, Lorraine, to come clean about her daughter's age. She responded by stating that she had been advised to refrain from commenting on the matter. Despite the debate regarding her age, Agyness Deyn was named Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards on November 27, 2007. Then, in 2008, Agyness Deyn became the new spokesmodel for Reebok.

Agyness & Emily Deyn | Model sisters & designers in the fashion world - Fashion Fashion Previous slide Next slide 18 of 23 View All Skip Ad Agyness and Emily Deyn The one-time British supermodel-extraordinaire, Agyness Deyn (right), has gone into business with her sister Emily to launch a desirable womenswear label called Title A Credit: Instagram/aggy_deyn © Telegraph Media Group Limited 2017 Your support makes a big difference In order to bring you award-winning content and investigative journalism from your favourite writers, we rely on revenue generated by advertising. Please consider supporting us by turning off your ad blocker. Just a couple of clicks will make a big difference. Thank you. Agyness Deyn retires from modelling...at the ripe old age of 29 | Daily Mail Online comments She has fronted campaigns for the likes of Burberry, Doc Martens, and Mulberry, but 29-year-old Agyness Deyn has decided to call time on her modelling career. The British beauty confirmed she has 'officially' stopped modelling in favour of pursuing her love of acting because she has grown disenchanted with the fashion industry over time.

She said: 'I suppose I have stopped modelling officially. I've not done any for a good long while now. I think it was about four years ago when my feeling were changing towards the industry. Agyness Deyn has called time on her modelling career in favour of focusing on acting 'I didn't hate it, but I was yearning to do something different. I was on a gradient. I was something different.' Deyn, who this year played a stripper in remake of Nicolas Winding Refn's 1996 cult classic, Pusher, saw her preference switch from fashion to film with each new role she landed. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share The star's acting career began in 2010 when she played Aphrodite in Clash of the Titans. In 2011 she appeared as a warrior in Woodkid's debut music video. Following on from the success of Pusher, she made her West End stage debut as Paula in François Archambault's comedy, The Leisure Society, for which she received rave reviews.

Top of her game: The model has walked the runway for countless huge industry names over the years Deyn, who is now settled in New York with husband Giovanni Ribisi, 37 whom she married in a ceremony earlier this year, says she doesn't begrudge spending 10 years of her life travelling the world for her sake of her modelling career because it gave her the creative desire to try acting. She explained to The New Review: 'Oh god, I loved it. Being 18 years old, from Manchester, and suddenly having this new world to explore - being able to travel, meet all these different people, and immerse myself in all these different cultures - was just so much fun.

'I got spotted [by a modelling agency] and I've had this great chunk of time - 10 years - to find out what I really wanted to do, which is to act.' New goals: The star wants to focus on her acting career - and this year she appeared in On The Road with Richard Coyle Multi-talented: Agyness has not only walked runways and fronted campaigns but she also designed her own clothing line Deyn is now settled in New York with husband Giovanni Ribisi, 37, whom she married in a ceremony earlier this year THE RISE AND RISE OF AGYNESS DEYN Born in Lancashire in 1983 Real name Laura Hollins, her name was apparently coined to further her modelling career Model scouted by SELECT model management while shopping with designer Henry Holland Vogue cover girl in 2007 alongside Doutzen Kroes Has appeared in adverts for Anna Sui, Blugirl by Blumarine, Burberry, Cacharel, Doc Martens, Gianfranco Ferré, Shiseido, Giorgio Armani, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Reebok and Vivienne Westwood Was face of fragrance The Beat by Burberry, Gold by Giles

 Deacon at New Look replacing Drew Barrymore, Jean Paul Gaultier's fragrance Ma Dame, Shiseido (replacing Angelina Jolie) and childhood friend Henry Holland's label House of Holland Landed a Uniqlo campaign in 2007 and in 2010 her and her sister created a T-shirt line for the chain Vogue Paris named her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s Married Giovanni Ribisi in a surprise wedding in June 2012 Showbiz Roundup!

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Question: How is Laura Hollins better known in the world of modelling?
Answer: AGYNESS DEYN